More Flatdogs Fun, Mfuwe Market

More Flatdogs Fun, Mfuwe Market



Our adventure continues as we have fun here at Flatdogs. We have been able to keep ourselves in provisions by checking at reception to find out if they are making a shopping run to the village of Mfwue. They will let you ride along and do your shopping which is quite nice. There is an area with several vegetable stands selling what is fresh at the moment. We have been able to find delicious tomatoes, onions, garlic, carrots, cabbage, green bell pepper, green beans, large pumpkin squash, potatoes and eggplant. They also sell different kinds of beans which we did cook up a big pot of that were quite delicious.

There are other markets where you can find a few canned meats, and canned baked beans. There is a frozen meat store where we have found chicken thighs(which are really some thigh and back), chicken legs(which are leg and thigh), tilapia, steak, sausage, ground meat (called mince) and ribs. They have been out of chicken breasts since we have been here. The distance the refrigerated truck has to come to reach this village, I am glad to see what they have. At this store they also sell apples. Occasionally, they have cheese here also.

There are several places that sell eggs, and there is a bread stand with two types of fresh baked bread that is delicious toasted! We have also tried out some of the peri peri sauce which is very spicy, and Robert found two different kinds of chutney to season things. He also found rice, milk, and cooking oil so we are able to come up with some varied meals.

Just being inside the Flatdogs perimeter, you see quite a few different animals. Robert did get to see a giraffe out on the road from Flatdogs when he went into town with Johan to pick up some supplies. When he rode in with Mike, they went and visited with the people that sell solar cookers there in the village. They say you can even cook beans with them! We had some varied adventures with the elephants in the campground and Robert was tracking the elephants that had come up near our tent and saw some puka out near one of the Flatdog tents. Of course we are constantly entertained by the hippos in the background and carrying on down in the river.

There is always an interesting group at the bar. We spent a great deal of time visiting with Johan and Nancy about their life and experiences in Afghanistan. We also met two English girls, Charlie and Becks that had been doing a medical internship in a remote village in Zambia that had some interesting experiences to share. There is a room with a wide screen TV that draws the sports fans to watch various events. Whether you know what team is playing you can always join in the fun!

We also have met a couple that have been Baptist missionaries in Zambia for 20 years and their daughter and her husband. Small world, Mike grew up in Lake Jackson, and when Lindy was young her father was a minister at a church near Llano! There son in law is working for the National Fish and Wildlife Service and is in charge of the manatee research at one of the national parks in Florida.

They invited us over to their campsite one evening for peach cobbler cooked in a Dutch oven over the coals in the fire! They asked us if we had any Bluebell ice cream to go along. The next day they were out on a self-drive safari and the baboons managed to break into their locked cooler and when they arrived back at their campsite, the baboons were sitting at their table eating the peach cobbler. Some of the items that were in the cooler had thawed, they didn't want to take with them and so gave us some of these. Imagine our surprise and delight at finding in one of the containers the making for a frito pie. Comfort food at its best!

Adventures with Elephant at Flatdogs Camp

Adventure with Elephant at Flatdogs

One of the unique features of Flatdogs camp is the fact that the wild animals are allowed to come into the park and wander around. There are night watchmen who can accompany you to the toilet at night, and other staff during the day, that help keep the human visitors from coming too close when the wild animal happens to be a hippo, elephant or giraffe!

Wonkie Tusk and Gilbert
There are several elephants that we have been told are known by name in the camp and we have witnessed "Wonkie tusk" and some of her two daughters and younger sister. She is so named because one of her tusks points to the front and the other to the back. She also has a sister that comes through the area with her children also.



Our first morning here we were not able to get into the food storage area because one of the children was grazing right there. We went back a little while later and were able to get our stuff. One morning we watched as Wonkie tusk and children cruised through the area. One of the young juveniles knocked over one of the nice wooden chairs and then kicked it for good measure. He also managed to knock over a sign.




Another morning, as we were preparing to go fix our meal in the kitchen, we saw the herd moving through so skirted around buildings so they wouldn't see us. A Dutch couple that we had been visiting with came over with their cooler. They were getting ready to leave and were packing up when the family came through. The watchmen suggested they put their cooler in the kitchen area because "Wonkie tusk" can recognize a cooler and has been known the stomp one that was outside to get to what was in it and we were told the she has also pushed open a car window to get to one she saw inside the vehicle!



I went back to our tent one morning to get some cooking items I had forgotten and was unable to get into the tent because one of the young ones was right there at our tent! He finally moved away far enough that I was able to get what I needed. Another morning we were going to catch a ride into town with the shopping run and were at our tent getting things out when the family was moving through and were afraid we were going to be stuck in our tent. The proper etiquette is to stay back away from them and try to keep something large like a tree, tent, vehicle to move behind if they get too close. If you are in your tent you are to stay there.




The only story we have been told about them bothering a tent was by Jess, one of the managers, about two young guys that reported that a elephant had cut into their tent with her tusk and took the biscuits that had in their tent out. Of course, they were not supposed to have food in their tent and this explains why.

We also have seen Gilbert, a huge old bull elephant with beautiful tusks and no tail. Evidently some of them lose their tail to parasites or a predator trying to attack them. Gilbert was our excuse one morning to go eat in the restaurant because he was feeding right outside the kitchen. While we were having breakfast, moved onto the lawn overlooking the river by the restaurant. There was a young guy down sitting in a chair enjoying the early morning when Gilbert came up behind him. It was quite a startling experience for him to say the least.

Another encounter we had with the elephants was one afternoon while I was sitting outside our tent painting and Robert was reading a book. A girl came up to the sink by our tent area and turned to me and said, "Excuse me, did you know there was an elephant behind you?" I turned around and there was one about 40 feet from us feeding. I retired to the platform to finish working on my painting and Robert followed the group as they wandered through the camp.

We have also been told by one of the local workers here at the camp that the villagers have used what has been known as a chili fence to keep the elephants out of their fields. What they do is take old cooking oil that they have cooked chilis in and dipped rags in this and strung them around their field. They report that it does keep the elephants out of their field.

Baby Hippo Heaven: Luangwa River, Zambia

Hippo Heaven: Luangwa River, Zambia

On one of the mornings when we went down to the bluff to enjoy our coffee, breakfast, and wildlife viewing we were lucky enough to see a baby hippo and it's mother across the river. The baby was about the size of the mothers head and was quite entertaining to watch as it walked about. We are not sure how old it was but it was so very small in comparison to its mother. He walked around a bit sticking his head into various holes made by the hippos as they had walked about the shore.

He did this for time and then wandered over near the water. He seemed to hesitate and then-----splash into the water. The mother also got into the water and stayed nearby. He did not venture far from the shore and then you could see where the mother and the baby were resting near the shore. We have not seen the baby since that first morning and so are not quite sure where the mother and baby went.

Birding South Luangwa National Park : Sacred Ibis, Yellow billed Storks

Birding South Luangwa National Park : Sacred Ibis, Yellow billed Storks

Our early morning routine has been to fix a pot of coffee and then go sit on the river bluff and watch what wildlife is about. We have had two good mornings enjoying the antics of a yellow-billed stork. He wades through the water and appears to be fishing. He does some amazing acrobatics almost--balancing on one leg and lifting one wing as if for balance. We were able to watch him through the spotting scope and his colors are quite nice. His back has a pale pastel pink color to it and the feathers look scalloped and fluffy. We noticed there was pale turquoise on the end of his tail feathers. Up close his face is very vivid colors, red stripe, orange then the yellow bill. His eye is orange or so it appears. He does not seem to be frightened of people as he got quite close to us. In flight they are very beautiful to watch as well.


Another bird we have enjoyed watching is the sacred ibis. His colors are black and white feathers with a black head and beak. They are very graceful as they move about the area searching for food. When they fly they are so very graceful looking and make flying seem so effortless.

Part 5, Traveling by bus Lusaka to Chipata to South Luangwa National Park; Places to Stay in Chipata and Mfuwe areas

Lusaka to South Luangwa National Park/ Mfuwe and Flatdogs:

(Note: We are just getting used to the mechanics of blogspot-- the pictures should be views bottom to top.)

As was mentioned to us, there are several places worth visiting in Zambia, but unfortunately it is difficult to reach them very easily travelling on a budget. Traveling to get to Flatdogs/Mfwe the cheapest way was by bus to Chipata and then on to Mfwe by minibus. Visiting with other travelers at Chachacha, the option of taking the Postal bus was brought up. According to this one traveler, it was dependable and a good way to travel.

We went to the Post Office and checked out the Postal bus. It was fully booked and so was not an option for us to travel that way. Another person had told us the Postal Bus was slow, crowded, and made many, many stops. So as information goes, much of it is in the eye of the traveler.

We next checked out the bus to Chipata. Going to the bus station is a trip in itself. The touts hit you the minute you enter the station grounds, hollering the names of places, busses and so forth. They are not deterred by a simple no, a forceful no, they just are not deterred. We had been given the name of a bus company by one of the employees of Chachacha and so we went to the Juldan Bus Company. There is still some confusion in my mind as to the correct name; because it also had the name Marks on the side of some of the busses and Juldan on others.

They had two buses heading to Chipata in the morning--one at 4:00 a.m. leaving from Freedom Way and one at 9:00 a.m. leaving from the main bus station. We had been told if you leave early enough you can make it all the way to Flatdogs in one day so we decided to try for the 4:00 a.m. bus. We arranged with the reception at Chachacha for a taxi to take us there at 3:30 a.m.

Got up early and were ready to go by 3:30 but no taxi. We are not sure what the glitch was; we had made arrangements to be picked up at the airport when we arrived in Lusaka and no problem there. I feel certain it must have been the early hour. At 5:00 a truck dropped a backpacker off at the gate, told us it was not a taxi and the night watchman offered to find us a taxi. Came back with a taxi and off we went to the bus station.

Be ready for the touts again. This time they run alongside the taxi and if they know where you are headed are running ahead leading the taxi to the proper bus. Since Juldan did not have a bus until 9:00 a.m., they took us over to a bus called Zambia-Botswana buslines. The ticket issuer assured us this bus did go to Chipata. Another word to the wise, lock your door, and if you have luggage in the backseat, lock that door also. While Robert was outside making arrangements, the back door opened and guys began to try to pull our luggage out. I won the tug of war with the taxi driver telling them I didn't want the luggage out yet. Finally all was settled, K115,000 per person to Chipata and K5000 per piece of luggage.

Another incident that happened while all this was going on, was our taxi driver was fined by the station security for parking in the wrong place. It could have been that, the fact he was not an official taxi, or just a new scam for the unsuspecting traveler. We paid the fine of K18,000 and got on the bus.

The bus was to leave at 7:30 so for the next 1 1/2 hours we watched the ebb and flow of the machinations of tout, ticket issuer, passenger, and who ever else was involved in getting someone on the bus! The bus left at about 7:30 and then we had a 15 minute stop to fuel the bus. Another thing to learn, when fueling the bus we all get off.

The bus is comparable in comfort to a Greyhound bus back in the states as far as seat room, etc. Except the seats are three across like on an airline. We were entertained by 'religious MTV' music and dancing most of the way but the scenery was both beautiful and interesting. The bus did not make many stops along the way except for what looked like three or four regular pick up and drop off spots.

Dean's Hillside Camp in Chipata
We made it to Chipata by about 4:00 p.m. and finally let a tout negotiate a taxi for us to Dean's Hillside Camp. The taxi to Dean's was much cheaper than one would be to Mama Rula's, another backpackers we had found on the web. Dean's Hillside Camp is very near town and if you are making an early getaway, it is a good place to be nearby. It is a lovely camp with places to pitch your tent and a house with inside guest rooms and an area on the second floor with room for more people.

The shower/toilet 'ablutions block' is very nice. The kitchen the staff uses to cook short order meals in we were told we were welcome to also use by the very helpful and friendly.

We were surprised to be have a horse and a rooster wander nearby while we were setting up our tent and enjoying the hill view. N'kwazi camp in Namibia near Rundu also let its horses have the run of the campsite. One interesting thing about this horse--while we were setting up our tent, it wandered through eating a few flower blooms along the way !

Dean, the owner, is a very interesting character and we had a nice visit about his story about coming to Zambia and how his place came to be. The price for camping is K25,000 per person.

Chipata to Flatdogs Camp
While we were visiting with some people that had just come from Flatdogs where we were headed to the next day, Moffat, a minibus owner came up wanting to know if we wanted to take his minibus (7-8 passengers) to Mfuwe. We had heard from the people we were talking to that the last 42 km of the road were very bad. We also were concerned about how long it could take given our experience of minibus travel where frequent stops are the norm. He offered a cost was $80.00USD since he already had booked to take passengers from Flatdogs, and did not want to drive there empty. We said we would go with him with the understanding that if he picked up other travelers he would reduce our fee. We suggested he stop at Mama Rula's and see if there were any, but he said he did not have time. Sure enough, he picked up two other locals along the way, one of which he claimed was his brother and another had a Flatdogs shirt on. Oh well....

Moffat was supposed to pick us up at 8:00 a.m. the next morning and was early and would not be able to let us go to the bank before we left Chipata because it did not open until 8:30 and he had to pick up his Flatdog customers at 12:00 He said he operated on "English time" instead of "African time." He had told us the night before that we could pay him in US dollars, but wanted an advance in order to purchase fuel.

We gave him two twenties, then to our surprise he went to a foreign exchange place. They wanted to give him a bad rate for small bills. Laura went in to change more than 50 and got a better rate. The rate was very low for small bills $20 or lower but higher for $50 or larger bills. The only problem they only had $300 on hand at the moment. Said it would be just "a few minutes" but we opted to move on.

The first part of the road is quite easy and the last 42km are just as everyone said, very rough, lots of potholes and slow going.

I was glad we took the faster, albeit much more expensive option, because after all we had been through to get to Chipata, we would have had another very long day. We were awakened in the campsite around 11:30 pm by some people setting up a tent that evidently had just arrived by minibus, but we do not know what time they left Chipata.